Smiles don't need to Fade
by Wobbuffet64
Summary: Corrin needs to cheer up a distraught Soleil after a recent confrontation she had. (M!Corrin x Soleil) (Implied Elise x Odin) (Implied Shiro x Ophelia)


Corrin gazed at a book that he held in his hands. His sister, Sakura, had recently recommended it to him and, despite not being a bookworm, he decided to read it. In some ways it would help with his boredom, in others it could be a useful asset in helping his younger sister open up more. It was rare for her to start a conversation, so he was immediately all ears when she approached him. Plus, he knew both of his brothers wouldn't be all too pleased to see Sakura feel rejected.

As he was deep in thought he heard the footsteps begin to grow in sound. He looked up to see Soleil, his wife, slowly walk towards their bed not looking up from her feet. He assumed that she was tired after a long day of training only to hear quiet, yet noticeable sobs coming from his wife.

"Soleil," he exclaimed, jumping from the bed he so carelessly laid upon and rushing over to his wife only to see her eyes slightly red. "What's wrong Sweetheart? D-did something happen," Corrin hesitantly inquired, saddened yet scared at the uncharacteristic behavior of his wife.

Corrin wouldn't be lying if he said that Soleil was the most positive person he had ever seen and probably ever will see. He remembered the first time he saw her smile, and while it was not a, "love at first sight situation," it still had him enamored at the ray of sunshine that was Soleil. It only took a few more meetings for him to go from interested to infatuated. Every time he saw her after that, his love, or rather his idea of love, continued to grow. Finally, after some encouragement from his brother Takumi and some advice from step-sister Camilla, he finally revealed his feelings in one cheesy yet sincere confession.

For Soleil, it took only their first meeting to become interested. She truly began to love Corrin during his confession. After that, the two became inseparable; they did everything together: they trained together, relaxed together, spent their free time together, ate together, and slept together. I wouldn't be longer than a year before they got married. Just thinking about it brought back an endless supply of good memories.

"I-I screwed up…"

Corrin blinked a few times, losing the deep concentration he had on Soleil's and his past. "What?" he asked, not exactly paying attention.

"I really m-messed things up…"

This was not like her and Corrin was well aware of that. "What happened," he asked.

"Well," Soleil began nervously, "I was just going on a walk…"

Ophelia sat on the lush grass and starred off into the somewhat cloudy sky; she sighed softly at the sight of what appeared to be a slow, quiet, and tiring day. But that was not her biggest issue right now. Her biggest issue was the words spoken to her by her father, Odin. She knew he had promised that he would explain both his past and his lack of an exalt brand, she just couldn't believe it was today he decided to spill the beans. Perhaps it was due to the timing or even the scale of what he spewed out that made her more confused than the times when he would ramble about a secret weapon he had uncovered on expedition that no one recalled him embarking on. He explained his past: place of origin, previous relationships, untold family members, and the story of how he, along with many others, bested the fowl dragon, Grima. Such a story seemed so much like fantasy that it didn't seem like even Odin, or Owain as he was known by, couldn't conjure it up.

Then Odin decided to drop the bombshell, of what felt like many, onto his daughter. He was travelling back to his land for a period of time which would mean deserting his friends and wife at Nohr for what might be months, but what would feel like decades. That, however, wasn't the tricky part; the tricky part was that he gave his daughter the choice of staying at Nohr, or coming with him to a land completely foreign to her.

To say Ophelia was a little lost would be an understatement. She had so much rushing through her mind; every pro and con flying around like a misguided tornado. On one hand, she admired her father. It would only take someone minutes of being around them to see the similarities. They had similar hair color, although Ophelia's mother did have hair that was almost identical to her father's; they talked and overall acted the same way, they were interested in the same topics, and they loved each other equally. She didn't doubt that if she traveled with her father, she would have a good time.

On the other hand, however, she had lots of friends in both Nohr and Hoshido. It wasn't as if she could bring them all with her, especially her husband whom was scheduled to rule Hoshido in the inevitable future. And her mother probably couldn't go due to being a Nohrian royal. There was only one person who, according to her father, would possibly join him and his two friends Laslow and Selena on their journey.

"Hey! There you are, I thought I would never find you!"

Ophelia looked up at the red haired woman who now stood in front of her before looking back down at the ground. "Are you alright," asked Soleil seeing her friend avoid her gaze.

"Oh…hey Soleil," Ophelia said weakly, finally responding to her friend, "Don't worry I'm fine, honest." Soleil, noticing the dreary eyes and noticeable frown, knew that was not the case. Usually Ophelia was as happy and full of life as Soleil, but that was not the case now.

"Okay, what's the issue," Soleil inquired, fully aware that her friend was not alright at all. Ophelia, understanding that Soleil was well aware that she wasn't exactly "perfect," decided to cave in.

"Look something happened today…my father told me about his past today. He mentioned that your father was planning on doing the same thing, did he?" Ophelia pried. Soleil gave off a blank stare before breaking out into a big smile. "Oh did he ever! He told me all kinds of things! He told me about his adventures, his family, and best of all, he said there were a bunch of cuties from where he was."

Ophelia was taken aback by her friend's blatant carefree and overall lack of confusion thoughts on the matter. "Yeah…but-"Ophelia began before being cut off, "I mean can you imagine what they looked like!" Ophelia now started grow slightly irritated. "Soleil, did your father tell you that he was going back to his homeland? Better yet, did he offer you to go with him," Ophelia questioned, wondering if Soleil simply didn't know the full story.

It was now Soleil's turn to look slightly shocked, "Woah, how did you know?" Ophelia let out a sigh before she resumed, "Because my father offered me the same thing. It's unfair. Here I am, adapting to the end of this war, finally with the man of my dreams and he decides to come out and ask if I want to join him on a long journey back to his homeland that could take months if not years!"

Soleil looked at her friend before smiling again, "Ah, it's no biggie. Just look at the bright side, at least you have the option." Ophelia finally cracked. Perhaps it was because of all the stress she had or more likely because her friend continued to ramble about the "bright side" of this issue, but she finally snapped."

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Soleil, who was still going on about her thoughts, finally quieted down. Ophelia stood up now, having a look of pure anger on her face. "I can't believe you! All you ever do is smile and say everything is going to be alright! For once could you take something seriously! My future depends on this situation and so does yours!" This was true; Soleil would soon be Queen of Valla. Valla would be left without a queen, but more importantly to her, Corrin would be left without the love of his life. It was because of this that she had no trouble telling her father she could not travel with him; Ophelia was a different case, she had reason to choose either option. Ophelia continued, "You never take anything seriously, even at funerals you couldn't shed a single tear. How can anyone live like that?"

With her final bit of rage released, Ophelia ran off, tired and upset. It was only then, afterwards, that tears finally began to fill in Soleil's eyes.

Corrin, hearing the story, looked at his wife with somber eyes before embracing her. Hugging her tightly as she wept softly. They stood like that for a minute or two, allowing Soleil to collect herself, before she spoke again.

"She must hate me," Soleil spat out. At this statement Corrin's eyes widened and frown grew. He pulled away from her, "Soleil...you know that's not true." Soleil looked up at Corrin, her voice now showing a hint of anger along with glum, "Why wouldn't she be? I didn't take her issue seriously. I just told her to stay positive, as if that was the easiest thing to do!" Corrin looked at his wife before sitting on their bed motioning for her to do the same. As she did, Corrin began to talk.

"You know, someone came to visit me not more than two hours ago," he stated. Soleil looked at him; almost sure of the answer but still interested if she was wrong, asked, "Was it Ophelia?" "It was indeed," Corrin confirmed causing Soleil to frown, "She decided to pay me a visit and asked where you were. Seeing as I you had not come back I told her that if there was anything she wanted to say to you, I could do it for her." With this, Soleil looked somewhat intrigued, "W-well what did she say?" Corrin looked at his wife, smiling, "She said that she had exchanged some harsh words with you; words she ended up regretting. But, you know what I told her? I told her that she didn't need to be worried, that someone like you was optimistic and wouldn't hold it against her. She then told me her real reason for being upset. It was not because you were optimistic, it was because she wasn't." At this news, Soleil's eyes widened. Corrin noticed this and chuckled, "Soleil, you have a gift. You have the ability to remain positive in almost every situation; most people wish they could do that! You need not worry about being optimistic, it's not a bad trait and you know that." Soleil, hearing her husband speech, slowly grinned before breaking into a gigantic smile, "Yeah…of course I know that. It's one of the lessons my father taught for goodness sake."

Feeling invigorated, Soleil jumped off her bed with Corrin soon following. Soleil looked at her husband with her trademark grin, "Man, I made the right choice in who I married. Not only are you a cutie but you sure are a picker upper!" With this, Corrin's face became a light shade of red, obviously still not entirely used to be called such names. However, despite his embarrassment, Corrin smiled, "Well I would do anything for my beloved." "Aw thanks," she said before pulling her husband in and touching her lips to his. Despite his face now Corrin's face now being tomato red, he still savored the moment. This went on for a while before Soleil pulled away with a surprised look on her face.

"What is it?" Corrin inquired. "I have to go tell Ophelia that everything is okay," Soleil exclaimed. Corrin, with a look of relief, let go of his wife, "Well that sounds like a good idea. You should hurry; it's going to get dark soon." Soleil then began to dash towards the door joking, "I know I know, you get lonely without me." At this, Corrin laughed, "Soleil, one more thing." Soleil stopped and turned to look at Corrin, "What is it?" Corrin looked at her, "You should always remember, smiles don't need to fade. If you can smile, you should." Soleil gave her husband an assuring nod, "Of course!" And with that, she ran out the door, leaving Corrin alone in his room again.

The whole situation was funny to him in some ways. Usually it was Soleil cheering him up, not the other way around; it was a nice a change of pace despite Corrin knowing this was a rare occasion. He sat back down on his bed and decided to begin reading the book Sakura had given. Although at this point, he had a much better story to tell.


End file.
